Things are growing, July 4th weekend

Things are growing

Despite the weird weather this year, things are growing.  

Beans are up!

These are pinto beans.  Not sure that I have a long enough season here for them.  We will see.

Corn is up and growing fast!

Cabbages and broccoli are slow start  though

Looks like a big elderberry crop this year!

These babies are loaded!  I am thinking maybe over 200 lbs of berries this harvest!  UGH!!

Choke berries and choke cherries are getting attacked!

As if they don't have enough "normal" problems of rooting and disease, now they are getting snipped off by something.  Probably rabbits.  I have begun doing a walk around the farm morning and evening to hunt the buggers responsible.

They seem to be good at sprouting out again - but how many times can they do this before they die?

Ginkgo trees are fighting to survive.

They don't get snipped off as often, but they seems to have some rooting issues.  Some are sprouting out.  Some are in such a wet location that I don't know if they will make it.

This one is basically in the swamp.  Still surviving somehow.

Rainbows!

I was out picking stuff up at the various tractor supply company locations this weekend.  Lots of rain and rainbows popping up!  Was very nice!   I got my two 6V batteries for the backhoe and a tire/wheel changing tool.

I also finally remembered to look for the roofer information on the signs along 30!  KLA roofing.  I will have to get a quote for some metal roof on my house.

Backhoe

AS I mentioned above, I got my backhoe batteries!  The beast started up fairly easily, I was impressed.  I moved it out of the garage without too much damage (I broke a piece of siding off around door frame - easily repaired).

These batteries weight almost 45 pounds each!  They fit in a tricky spot where you really can't put your hands!

Here are a couple videos that I posted to youtube.

Woodshed construction in the cold!

Woodshed blitz!

I am hellbent on getting this woodshed up and the firewood OUT of my shop this winter!  With that goal in mind I dared to work in near 0F temps this weekend!  I didn't take as many pictures as I probably should have, but I was busy!

After adding the diagonal bracing to sides and back.   Also added the rafters! 

My book on pole-barns said that these diagonals were very important to pole buildings.  Indeed, I see many small pole buildings falling down or crooked as hell that don't have this bracing.

Pictures for the existing red-barn roof to see spacing information.

Looks like about 3 ft between rafters and 2 ft between purlins

Checking out how the edges of the roof is handled

With purlins added

Also added front and back "girts" to support the additional "center" rafters.

Whew!  With the steel roof on!

Not bad!

The roof is a little askew, but I eyeballed it since it was getting late and I wanted this up because of rain forecast tomorrow morning!

Next morning:  yep, it works!  Freezing rain outside, dry inside!

Next to add the sides and floor!

I wold like to level the floor a bit first - but the ground is frozen hard now.

With regard to the flooring plans, I have considered leveling the floor with dirt, adding stone, and using sleepers, but all of these require a somewhat stable ground, which I don't feel that I have here.  I am afraid that I will be placing in girts at the base and building the floor off of those.  Building the floor off of lower girts cuold eat up about 8"-12" of space from the ground.  Not happy about that - but right now, it looks like the best solution, given the constraints.